UWS Schools Spared Wrecking Ball

Local parents rejoiced at the news last week, first reported by neighborhood blog West Side Rag, that two local schools potentially slated for demolition are going to be spared after all. The Departent of Education has previously proposed that either P.S. 199 on 70th Street or P.S. 191 on 61st Street be sold to developers in exchange for constructing new schools along with new apartments on the sites. But local opposition to the plan was swift and loud, and the DOE announced that it had chosen to instead demolish the School of Cooperative Technical Education at 321 East 96th Street to rebuild it inside a luxury high-rise, local Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal told the West Side Rag.

"We are absolutely thrilled that P.S. 191 and P.S. 199 will be saved," wrote David Saphier on his blog 199demolition.com. "They are cherished neighborhood institutions and the disruption would have been terrible for kids, the parents and the neighborhoods. However, our joy is tempered by the fact that another amazing school, the High School Cooperative Education has been chosen by the ECF for demolition and redevelopment."